There’s a certain kind of pasta salad that shows up at every summer gathering, the kind made with whatever’s on sale and forgotten in the fridge by dinner. This isn’t that one.

This Italian Pasta Salad is the one my family actually asks for. Salty salami, provolone, sweet cherry tomatoes, a little heat from banana peppers, and a creamy Italian dressing that soaks into every noodle the longer it sits. I usually make it the night before a barbecue, because by the next day the flavors have had time to settle in and it tastes even better than when I first tossed it together.

It’s the kind of recipe that feeds a crowd without much fuss, and it always